During a recent episode of CoinDesk Spotlight, Meta's Chief Data Officer, Alex Schultz, articulated his vision for the company's direction, suggesting that agentic commerce represents a fundamental shift in business operations.
"We believe it could become the next tier of business for our entire organization," he shared with host Sam Ewen.
The Agentic Economy: Present Yet Not Widespread
Schultz likened the concept of the agentic economy to how science fiction author William Gibson described the future: it exists but is not yet fully realized in mainstream society.
"We're developing business agents for all types of businesses," he noted, mentioning that Meta now supports over a million weekly active businesses utilizing its agents, a significant increase from earlier this year.
He illustrated his point with a relatable scenario: organizing a child's birthday party. Agents would manage scheduling, venue selection, and communication with other parents' agents through WhatsApp. This simple example underscores scalability; if agents can manage basic logistics, they could also facilitate supply chain negotiations, financial transactions, and international trade.
"Expand that example, and ideally, we hope to see it all happen on WhatsApp," Schultz remarked.
Within this framework, stablecoins are viewed as an essential element for payments.
Schultz predicts the obsolescence of physical wallets, stating, "We firmly believe that the future lies in a world without wallets, where digital payments dominate." He cited WeChat's red envelope system and Line's commerce frameworks in regions like Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan as evidence that large-scale conversational commerce is achievable. "Stablecoins play a significant role in this vision," he added.
Both WeChat and Line have been leaders in digital peer-to-peer transactions and in-app commerce across Asia.
He expressed concern about the U.S. dependence on iMessage, calling it "very outdated." In Brazil and India, Schultz indicated that Meta has more than a million small businesses engaging in commerce via WhatsApp.
"iMessage is quite limited in terms of its functionality and user experience," he commented. While American consumers often use tap-to-pay systems, conversational commerce has become the norm in Asia, fostering direct relationships between consumers and businesses, often enhanced by trusted influencers. According to Fortune Business Insights, the sector is projected to reach $39.53 billion by 2034, primarily driven by AI advancements.
Meta's Approach to Financial Services: Partnerships Over Proprietary Currencies
This discussion coincided with the seventh anniversary of Facebook's Libra initiative, a moment Schultz referenced with a humorous remark: "Perhaps we stirred some discontent among certain governments."
Looking ahead, he emphasized that Meta's strategy in the financial sector will focus on partnerships rather than launching its own currency. "Historically, we have been a partnership-focused company in these areas," he said.
Meta aims to serve as the interface for messaging and commerce, while payment processing occurs behind the scenes.
This approach reflects the significant regulatory changes since the Libra project, which faced intense scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers concerned about financial stability, privacy, and the influence of the company on global payment systems. The initiative was ultimately rebranded as Diem before being shelved in 2022 amid regulatory challenges. With stablecoin regulations now in place and a more favorable stance from the SEC towards the crypto sector, Meta seems to be shifting toward a strategy of integrating regulated third-party stablecoins into its platforms instead of creating its own.
On Decentralization: A Valuable Opportunity
Schultz shared his thoughts on decentralization and proof-of-humanity systems during the discussion.
"Decentralization, particularly if we could verify identity outside our system — that would be incredibly beneficial for us," he said. "It would be remarkable to have a decentralized service we could seamlessly integrate into our operations."
He noted that Meta has not yet pursued this avenue because no existing system offers the scale, reliability, or widespread acceptance needed for full integration. "Many talented individuals have attempted this, but we’re not there yet," he remarked.
Despite this, interest exists. Schultz mentioned in a post about the agentic economy that for transactions to occur with an agent, it is crucial to confirm its legitimacy. This verification process is a fundamental hurdle for the agentic economy to operate effectively. Should decentralized identity solutions emerge at scale, Schultz indicated that Meta would be ready to adopt them.
It remains uncertain if these developments will align with Schultz's timeline, but within Meta, the concepts of agentic payments, decentralized identity, and stablecoin frameworks are increasingly viewed as achievable realities.